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- Jun 9, 1999
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I'm currently reviewing three knives on pass-arounds, as I previously mentioned here in the Spyderhawk review. This one is the Spyderco Bob Lum Chinese folder. It's a beauty with an Achilles heel; more on that later. Here's a pic:
The Lum is the one on the left. Beside it is a neck sheath provided by Normark. It's very secure and well made but not really my thing, so I won't get much use out of it.
Specs
From Spyderco's website:
Blade Steel: VG-10
Blade Thickness: 1/8" 3mm
Clip: Stainless Steel
Diam. Blade Hole: 15/32" 12mm
Edge Type: PlainEdge, SpyderEdge
Handle Material: Almite
Hardness: 59-60
Length Blade: 3 3/16" 80mm
Length Closed: 4 1/4" 108mm
Length Cutting Edge: 2 15/16" 74mm
Length Overall: 7 3/16" 183mm
Weight: 2.75oz 77g
Blade
In a word; gorgeous. Seriously, I'm in love. The shape of this blade has a lot of visual and utility appeal. The finish on the flat grind is a nice satin finish, a step up from the FRN handled Spyderco offerings IMO. One quibble; the secondary grind along the top of the blade wasn't polished very well. Grind lines are still clearly visible which shouldn't be the case on a folder this epxensive. The grinds along the spine are very even however, which is nice to see. I'm becoming more and more impressed with Spyderco's grinding precision, this is definitely a strength for them. A good finish can't hide a bad grind, Spyderco's only occasional failing is in the finish.
Some thoughts on the steel. VG-10 has an excellent reputation, my results so far have been outstanding. With DaveH's permission I used my Edge Pro to put a good edge on this; the edge it took amazes me. The flat grind and the gentle curve of the edge combined to make it a dream to sharpen. I slightly reprofiled it to slightly less than 20 deg on each side. Spyderco is the only production company I know who grinds their edges so thin and so evenly and I love them for it. My only complaint is that a little too much metal was removed near the base of the blade. It will sharpen out eventually and is only an aesthetic complaint, but on a knife this expensive it shouldn't have happened. Freshly sharpened this thing cuts like no tomorrow. The VG-10 steel took a very polished edge that shaves with no effort at all. It even shaved my face, although not very closely or comfortably. It would do in a pinch though. Whoever gets this next be careful!
Lock
It kills me to say it, but there's vertical play in this one too. It's better than the Spyderhawk though, the play on this one only occurs when pressure is placed on the spine of the blade. The problem is that the face of the lock bar doesn't 'wedge' on the engagement face of the blade. It travels about two thirds of the way across the engagement face, but slips to about one third when pressure is placed on the spine. The knife hasn't folded up on me yet although I placed a lot of pressure on it and did a light spine-whack test. It's unnoticeable during most cutting tasks but I still don't like it. I have a CRKT M-16 that locks up tighter than this, and it retails for less than half what the Lum does. Other than that it's all right; the tension is about right for comfort and the serrations along the top of the lock bar are just right. Integrity is an issue though.
Handle
The handle and blade on this knife make me doubly mad that the lock is sub-par. Aesthetically it has a simple beauty that I find very appealing. The corners are perfectly radiused and the shape feels very good in my hand. It's definitely a light duty knife but perfectly suited to this purpose. It's nice and thin, so it rides unobtrusively in my pocket and doesn't scrape up my hand when I retreive my wallet. This is very important to me in an EDC since I've had knives that would draw blood if I wasn't careful. The clip is placed a little low for my taste but not excessively so. I don't know how much DaveH has used this, but the Almite coating looks to have held up well. There are a few chips along the edges, and it's completely worn off where it contacts the clip. This isn't a problem unless you switch the carry method, as appears to have been done on this one.
Here are the inevitable quibbles. The screws that hold the clip on seem to have unnecessarily big heads. Also, they're phillips heads, not torx which I believe is superior for small screws like these. I like to use Loc-Tite when I have to reassemble a knife for whatever reason, and if I have to take it apart again it's a lot easier to do with torx heads than phillips heads. As I said before I'd like to see the clip placed a little closer to the top of the handle so it rides lower in my pocket. Also, the handle is drilled and tapped for tip up or tip down carry, which is a plus and a minus. It's good to have a choice, but then you have those big gaping holes on the other end of the handle. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but a way to fill those holes would be nice, or the option of dedicated tip up or down. That last one is really nitpicking though, but hey, that's what they pay me for.
Summary
This knife is the total package for EDC with one exception; the lock. I won't buy a Spyderco now without thoroughly inspecting it in person due to my experience with this and other Spydercos. I'm sure I could get this fixed if I sent it in (also if it were my knife), but I shouldn't feel the need to do that with every Spyderco I own. The blade grinds are spot-on and the handle is very comfortable but I can't get my mind off of the lock. Fix this and one of these could become my dress up carry knife.
Suggested Improvements
- Lock integrity (obviously)
- Torx screws throughout
- More attention to final finish of the blade
- Place the clip a little higher for lower profile carry
- Make the coating more durable or somehow pad the clip where it contacts the handle
I'd also love to see this with the same dimensions all around, but with an anodized titanium handle with a frame lock. That would be seriously sweet.
Comments, Questions?
As with the Spyderhawk review, what tests would you like to see me do? I have it for another five days and I'd like to do a little more cutting in that time. Thanks for reading!
The Lum is the one on the left. Beside it is a neck sheath provided by Normark. It's very secure and well made but not really my thing, so I won't get much use out of it.
Specs
From Spyderco's website:
Blade Steel: VG-10
Blade Thickness: 1/8" 3mm
Clip: Stainless Steel
Diam. Blade Hole: 15/32" 12mm
Edge Type: PlainEdge, SpyderEdge
Handle Material: Almite
Hardness: 59-60
Length Blade: 3 3/16" 80mm
Length Closed: 4 1/4" 108mm
Length Cutting Edge: 2 15/16" 74mm
Length Overall: 7 3/16" 183mm
Weight: 2.75oz 77g
Blade
In a word; gorgeous. Seriously, I'm in love. The shape of this blade has a lot of visual and utility appeal. The finish on the flat grind is a nice satin finish, a step up from the FRN handled Spyderco offerings IMO. One quibble; the secondary grind along the top of the blade wasn't polished very well. Grind lines are still clearly visible which shouldn't be the case on a folder this epxensive. The grinds along the spine are very even however, which is nice to see. I'm becoming more and more impressed with Spyderco's grinding precision, this is definitely a strength for them. A good finish can't hide a bad grind, Spyderco's only occasional failing is in the finish.
Some thoughts on the steel. VG-10 has an excellent reputation, my results so far have been outstanding. With DaveH's permission I used my Edge Pro to put a good edge on this; the edge it took amazes me. The flat grind and the gentle curve of the edge combined to make it a dream to sharpen. I slightly reprofiled it to slightly less than 20 deg on each side. Spyderco is the only production company I know who grinds their edges so thin and so evenly and I love them for it. My only complaint is that a little too much metal was removed near the base of the blade. It will sharpen out eventually and is only an aesthetic complaint, but on a knife this expensive it shouldn't have happened. Freshly sharpened this thing cuts like no tomorrow. The VG-10 steel took a very polished edge that shaves with no effort at all. It even shaved my face, although not very closely or comfortably. It would do in a pinch though. Whoever gets this next be careful!
Lock
It kills me to say it, but there's vertical play in this one too. It's better than the Spyderhawk though, the play on this one only occurs when pressure is placed on the spine of the blade. The problem is that the face of the lock bar doesn't 'wedge' on the engagement face of the blade. It travels about two thirds of the way across the engagement face, but slips to about one third when pressure is placed on the spine. The knife hasn't folded up on me yet although I placed a lot of pressure on it and did a light spine-whack test. It's unnoticeable during most cutting tasks but I still don't like it. I have a CRKT M-16 that locks up tighter than this, and it retails for less than half what the Lum does. Other than that it's all right; the tension is about right for comfort and the serrations along the top of the lock bar are just right. Integrity is an issue though.
Handle
The handle and blade on this knife make me doubly mad that the lock is sub-par. Aesthetically it has a simple beauty that I find very appealing. The corners are perfectly radiused and the shape feels very good in my hand. It's definitely a light duty knife but perfectly suited to this purpose. It's nice and thin, so it rides unobtrusively in my pocket and doesn't scrape up my hand when I retreive my wallet. This is very important to me in an EDC since I've had knives that would draw blood if I wasn't careful. The clip is placed a little low for my taste but not excessively so. I don't know how much DaveH has used this, but the Almite coating looks to have held up well. There are a few chips along the edges, and it's completely worn off where it contacts the clip. This isn't a problem unless you switch the carry method, as appears to have been done on this one.
Here are the inevitable quibbles. The screws that hold the clip on seem to have unnecessarily big heads. Also, they're phillips heads, not torx which I believe is superior for small screws like these. I like to use Loc-Tite when I have to reassemble a knife for whatever reason, and if I have to take it apart again it's a lot easier to do with torx heads than phillips heads. As I said before I'd like to see the clip placed a little closer to the top of the handle so it rides lower in my pocket. Also, the handle is drilled and tapped for tip up or tip down carry, which is a plus and a minus. It's good to have a choice, but then you have those big gaping holes on the other end of the handle. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but a way to fill those holes would be nice, or the option of dedicated tip up or down. That last one is really nitpicking though, but hey, that's what they pay me for.
Summary
This knife is the total package for EDC with one exception; the lock. I won't buy a Spyderco now without thoroughly inspecting it in person due to my experience with this and other Spydercos. I'm sure I could get this fixed if I sent it in (also if it were my knife), but I shouldn't feel the need to do that with every Spyderco I own. The blade grinds are spot-on and the handle is very comfortable but I can't get my mind off of the lock. Fix this and one of these could become my dress up carry knife.
Suggested Improvements
- Lock integrity (obviously)
- Torx screws throughout
- More attention to final finish of the blade
- Place the clip a little higher for lower profile carry
- Make the coating more durable or somehow pad the clip where it contacts the handle
I'd also love to see this with the same dimensions all around, but with an anodized titanium handle with a frame lock. That would be seriously sweet.
Comments, Questions?
As with the Spyderhawk review, what tests would you like to see me do? I have it for another five days and I'd like to do a little more cutting in that time. Thanks for reading!
